Engagement & Retention project | InShorts
InShorts is an innovative news app that cuts the clutter and delivers news in 60 words, which they call Shorts.
InShorts Story:
- In 2013, the InShorts app was founded in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
- It was created to deliver news in less than 60 words, focusing solely on essential facts and avoiding opinion and storytelling. Azhar Iqubal, a key figure in digital entrepreneurship, began his journey at IIT Delhi and, in 2013, along with Anunay Arunav and Deepit Purkayastha, founded Inshorts, initially named "News in Shorts."
- They aimed to make news accessible to busy readers by condensing articles into 60-word snippets.
- This idea quickly gained popularity, resonating with people seeking quick updates. After joining the TLabs startup accelerator program supported by the Times Internet group, Inshorts became a significant player in the media industry.
- Being well-versed in current affairs, the team realized that the current media industry caters only to individuals with the time and patience to delve into lengthy news articles. They recognized the need for a platform that provides essential news facts for those interested in a quick overview.
- Thus, they developed an AI engine that learns the reader's preferences and delivers tailored news in a single feed. Azhar Iqubal envisions a future where InShorts broadens its linguistic horizons, catering to diverse regional dialects. This strategic move aims to amplify user engagement and open new avenues for ad revenue. Moreover, global diversification is on the horizon, hinting at Inshorts' ambition to transcend local news and make a mark on the global stage. Concurrently, Public's burgeoning user base underscores Inshorts' multi-faceted approach to sustained growth.
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What is the core value proposition?
π£οΈ Deliver news in 60 words! InShorts empowers users by bringing them the latest Indian and Global news and keeping them informed.
Users experience this core value prop through:
π€ Aggregating and reporting news in 60-word shorts free of bias and storytelling.
π± Curating personalized news feeds based on their interests - political, business, innovation, entertainment, sports, global, etc.
π£ Keeping readers engaged through polls and deep insights on trending topics.
How do users experience core value propositions repeatedly?
Users experience InShorts by installing its mobile app and immersing themselves in reading the latest stories by:
- Getting crisp, unbiased, non-opinionated, and only fact-based news in 60 words or less per story
- Easily flipping the stories over to unveil a new one.
- Bookmarking the stories they like and coming back to them later.
- By enabling push notifications on the app and reading the breaking news headlines of the time pushed to them.
- By reading the specially curated InSights feature to learn in-depth about the trending news
- By reading news on topics of their choice.
- Interacting with the app by participating in their daily polls.
- By allowing users to select relevancy and personalize their feed based on their interests
- And by sharing the stories they found most interesting with their peers through other platforms such as WA
What is the natural frequency of InShorts' core product?
- Casual Users: Engage with InShorts 1-2 times a week, dedicating a few minutes per session to catch up on the news or read the latest Insights. πΌ
- Core Users: Engage 3-5 times a week, spending around 10-20 minutes per session, driven by their interests to be updated even when they are busy or are on the go traveling and have only a few minutes to read through the news. They share certain stories they find interesting to their network once a week. π
- Power Users: These users are daily news enthusiasts who dive into InShorts every single day and often spend 20-30 minutes or more per session. Sharing InShorts stories to their network every other day. These people usually don't have the time to go through multiple news sites and prefer an aggregator for their daily news updates. π₯
β
How do casual, core, and power users perceive and experience InShorts?
| User Type | CVP π§ | JBTB π¬ | Frequency of use π | What do they use InShorts for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casual Users πΌ |
| Consume casual news in 60-word shorts and be entertained | β Once a week |
notifications, and on the rare occasions they do, they may happen to click a story and read the 60-word summary.
as impactful |
| Core Users π | β
| Consume news from all categories in 60-word shorts and bookmark stories they couldn't finish to come back later and catch up | 3-4 times a week β |
it is one of the primary news apps for news
a balance between brevity and depth, customization features, and the reliability of InShorts for accurate news. β |
| Power Users π₯ | β
| Consume interesting news across categories in 60 words, read in-depth stories, use InShorts features like Insights, Polls and even Share the news that they find interesting with your peers. | Daily - multiple times a day |
its quick delivery of comprehensive news, advanced features like bookmarking and sharing, the option to read full articles for in-depth analysis, active engagement with the app's community features, and seamless multi-platform integration.
β |
πThe engagement framework of InShorts
Across these user categories, InShorts' promise of "delivering news in 60 words" is the underlying thread, though the intensity and engagement methods differ.
β
Engagement Framework | Key Tracking Metric | Selected | Rationale | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Frequency | More no. shorts clicked | β |
| P1 |
Depth | Average time spent on the app | β |
Insights, polls β | P2 |
Breadth | Improving Shorts' relevance for users per the preferences | β |
news
news that's most newsworthy for the user | P3 |
β
Segmentation
Active Users for InShorts
InShorts is a free product that aims to get users back to the platform, preferably multiple times a day, to read all their news in Shorts and, in some cases, go in-depth.
β
An active user of InShorts:
- access the InShorts application multiple times a day
- Following at least 3-4 news relevance categories, major news
- Have enabled push notifications and are reading the headlines and coming to the app for more information.
- Share the news they find interesting with their friends and network through SM or directly via WA.
- Using Insights features like InSights, Polls, Relevance, and Trending news
β
So, in this case
Frequency > Depth > Breadth are all applicable, and InShorts has to direct users to make them active, loyal users.
ICP Segmentation for InShorts
I administered a survey to get responses from active and churned users of the InShorts app and received 13 responses. Followed up with 3 of them to get deeper insights into their experience with InShorts.
β
ICP | β | β | β |
|---|---|---|---|
Name | Rahul π¦ | Simran π© | Aman π¦ |
Age | 30-34 | 18-24 | 25-29 |
Gender | Male | Female | Male |
Work | Professional | On a break | Professional |
City | Delhi | Delhi | Bangalore |
Frequency of InShorts use | 3-4 times a week | Over a year | Daily - multiple times a day |
Push notifications enabled | Yes | Yes (had enabled) | Yes |
News topics preferences | Political, business | World News | Business, Political, Sports, Technology, Entertainment |
InShorts Features used | β
|
|
|
Other sources of news | News aggregator applications (Flipboard, Reddit, Dailyhunt, Google News,Apple News, etc.) | Social media (Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, etc.) |
Facebook, X, LinkedIn, etc.)
|
Current favorite news source | YouTube | Google News | InShorts primarily (Power user) |
CVP |
|
β |
|
Reasons for declining CVP |
| None, choosing mental peace | Use InShorts for 30-40 mins a day. but switched off PNs as there were spamming |
Overall rating | 7/10 | 7/10 | 9/10 |
Pain points of InShorts |
through push notifications and not open the app. |
overpowering animation, distracting from news
|
of news and relevance
needs to be improved -- too many choices, new categories keep getting added, and I get news shorts of of news I have set not-interested |
Apps used | β OTT, SM, Shopping, Entertainment, Ride-Hailing, Fintech | OTT, SM, Shopping, Entertainment, Ride-Hailing | βOTT, SM, Shopping, Entertainment, Ride-Hailing, Fintech |
RFM Analysis (advanced segmentation): Loyalists/Champions/In danger/Hibernatingβ
β | Loyalists π | Champions π€© | In danger π₯² | Hibernating πͺ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
What does this mean? | Active users who have used InShorts most recently and frequently. They are highly engaged via the app and are most likely going to promote the app to their peers β | Active users who have used InShorts most recently and frequently. They are highly engaged via the app and are most likely going to promote the app to their peers | These users have once been engaged users of the app and have decreased their activity, are at a risk of churning | These users have used the app in the past, the app on their phone, but haven't used the app in a long time |
Action | Focus on retaining these users by giving them tailored notifications, exclusive content, personalized, customized content based on their interests, and an improved app experience | Focus on retaining these users by giving them tailored notifications, exclusive content, personalized, customized content based on their interests, and an improved app experience | Come up with re-engagement campaigns targeted specifically for them to revive their interest in the app.
at a specific hour
with highlights, special stories giveaways, merch, | Reactivate engagement with these users by showcasing CVP and the value add of InShorts |
Recency of usage | Daily -- often multiple times a day | Daily -- often multiple times a day | Usage has become less frequent, with a significant gap since their last activity, over 3 months | The last usage was over a year ago |
Frequency of usage | High frequency, as they are consistently coming back to the app for news | High frequency, as they are consistently coming back to the app for news | The frequency used to be high, but now it's drastically declining | The frequency has been nil |
Monetary analysis | As InShorts is a free product, Loyalists will bring in more revenue with more time being spent and bringing in more High-quality ads, and possibly even subscribing if there's a paid version | Loyalists will bring in more revenue with more time being spent and bringing in more High-quality ads, and possibly even subscribing if there's a paid version | Have the potential to use the app and interact with ads to add to the revenue if re-engaged | Low potential, due to minimal engagement |
JTBD on InShorts | Get crisp, quality, timely, unbiased news in 60 words | Get crisp, quality, timely, unbiased news in 60 words | Get reminded of the important news that they might have been missing and get the gist of it quickly in 60 words | Rediscover the convenient way of getting bite-sized news and other app features and benefits |
Key actions and interactions on InShorts |
|
β |
times a week
|
disabled push notifications
avoiding feedback |
Engagement Campaigns
Campaigns 1 and 2: Weekly Newsletters for Hybernating and Daily Newsletters for Danger
DangerβThese users have been frequent for over three months. The InShorts app is in the background, and the push notifications are snoozed. They have transitioned to long-form content and are reading newsletters and in-depth features offered by other digital media.
Why it will work- These users have learned that InShorts is spammy and not serious. Campaigns 1 and 2 will encourage them to return to InShorts and rebuild the trust.
β
β | Campaign 1 | Campaign 2 |
|---|---|---|
Segmentation | Hybernating | Danger |
Goal of the Campaign | Send topic based weekly round-ups newsletter encompassing all the InShorts highlights of the weekly | Send topic based daily round-ups newsletter encompassing all the InShorts highlights of the daily |
Pitch/content | InShorts ad-free Weekly Round-Ups highlighting trending news from across categories and with non-sensationalized headlines and links to the Shorts in the app. | InShorts ad-free daily Round-Ups highlighting trending news from across categories and with non-sensationalized headlines and links to the Shorts in the app |
Channel | ||
Frequency | Weekly | Daily |
Time | Sunday Morning at 11 am | Everyday evening at 7 pm, except for Sundays |
Success Metrics | Track Open Rates - aim for avg. 60% for all the weekly newsletters in a month Click-Through Rates - aim for an avg. of 10 % CTR per newsletter sent Increased activity with app and other stories WoW increase in the number of Shorts read | Track Open Rates - aim for avg. 60% for all the weekly newsletters in a month Click-Through Rates - aim for an avg. of 10 % CTR per newsletter sent Increased activity with app and other shorts. The daily increase in the number of Shorts read |
Campaigns 3 and 4:
Champions and Loyalists:
Campaign 3: These users visit the InShorts app 3 to 4 times weekly. However, they don't spend too much time on the news, and they scroll, consume a few shorts, and exit the app the moment they spot an irrelevant Short or some news that doesn't match their preference. The goal is to increase the relevance of the news, reduce the number of categories, and only send push notifications for the topics they have selected.
Campaign 4 will encourage them to use features like Insights and trending topics and establish a habit of opening InShorts for their daily news updates.
β
β | Campaign 3 | Campaign 4 |
|---|---|---|
Segmentation | Champions and Loyalists | Champions and Loyalists |
Goal of the Campaign | Customize news and establish as InShorts values users time. They want to reduce the time taken for article consumption, but also build a habit of coming back every few hours to check what's new |
users time. They want to reduce the time taken for article consumption, but also build a habit of coming back every few hours to check what's new |
Pitch/content | β
to top 3 categories at the most along with news channel preferences.
the news they have selected appears
receive push notifications
they have scheduled (For example, morning and evening)
all the news in their category, give a prompt saying, "You are all caught up on the topic -- come back in 3 hours to know the latest updates."
which the user has not chosen will be inserted to prime them into choosing by reading a short or two. |
to top 3 categories at the most along with news channel preferences.
the news they have selected for appears
receive push notifications
they have scheduled (For example, morning and evening)
all the news in their category, give a prompt saying "You are up to date with all the latest news, comeback in a couple of hours, for fresh news"
which the user has not chosen will be inserted to prime them into choosing by reading a short or two.
to even personalize the ad story, they can choose the frequency of add showing - which can be -1 every 3 Shorts -2 every 9 Shorts |
Channel | Push Notifications + App Interface reminders | Push Notifications + App Interface reminders |
Frequency |
they use the app
to check if they want to adjust their preferences
|
use the app
to check if they want to adjust their preferences |
Time | At the time, they have set | At the time they have set |
Success Metrics |
|
β |
β
Campaigns 5:
Champions, Loyalists, Danger, and Hibernation:
Campaign 5: Establish trust in reporting by providing not just a source but also reassuring readers that InShort's expert team of journalists has performed an added layer of vetting and suggests news every day that they have to read, a personalized, curated list of news from the user's city, state, country, and world.
β | Campaign 3 |
|---|---|
Segmentation | Champions, Loyalists, Danger Hibernation |
Goal of the Campaign | Rebuild the trust by sharing news that's vetted and verified by the source, avoid spam, and give personalized, tailored news per their interests to them every morning.
News consumption analytics are curated by InShorts via their SM.
would they like to increase and decrease. β |
Pitch/content | There are three types of pitches.? Quarterly: We've just completed reading a quarter of the news on InShorts. Quickly look at your news dashboard to see the stories that have captured your attention the most. Feel free to make any changes if you want to receive better suggestions and explore new interests. If not, we hope you're well-informed and ready to kickstart your day. Share your InShorts News Stats. Half-yearly: We've just completed 6 months of reading the news on InShorts. Quickly look at your news dashboard to see the stories that have captured your attention the most. Feel free to make any changes if you want to receive better suggestions and explore new interests. If not, we hope you're well-informed and ready to kickstart your day. Share your InShorts News Stats. Annually: We've just completed a year of reading the news on InShorts. Quickly look at your news dashboard to see the stories that have captured your attention the most. Feel free to make any changes if you want to receive better suggestions and explore new interests. If not, we hope you're well-informed and ready to kickstart your day. Share your InShorts News Stats. β Share your InShorts News Stats. |
Channel | Push Notifications + App Interface reminders |
Frequency | quarterly, half-yearly, and annually.
|
Time | quarterly, half-yearly, and annually. |
Success Metrics |
and get to know insights about their news consumption patterns |
Retention
Bird's eye view:
- InShoryts has about 2.9M unique users monthly, according to Media Ant.
- The app has over 12 million active users and has partnered with over 1,500 brands for marketing campaigns. In 2020, it launched the hyperlocal content platform Public App, which now has 70 million active users.
- Venture capital firms back the company, including ο»ΏVy Capitalο»Ώ, A91 Partners, SIG, ο»ΏTiger Global Managementο»Ώ, and Tanglin Venture Partners.
- In 2022, Inshorts reshuffled executive leadership. Co-founder Azhar Iqubal became chairman as part of this reshuffle. They appointed Nikhil Taneja as Head of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Pavit Singh Katoch as General Counsel, and Abhijeet Ranjan as Chief Revenue Officer of Public app to strengthen the leadership team.
- As per Statista's projections, India's digital newspaper and magazine market is slated for significant growth, with revenues expected to soar to INR 1,079.00 million by 2024. This upward trajectory underscores the burgeoning appetite for digital media consumption, a realm where Inshorts thrives. With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.77% forecasted till 2028, the digital media sphere presents ample opportunities for trailblazers like Inshorts to expand their footprint and captivate a burgeoning audience.
User Retention
We can see that the retention curve is flattening D3 ranging between 25% - 27%
Top Reasons for Churn π
Based on user research insights and secondary research, here are the key factors contributing to churn on InShorts:
User insights:
- Users used the app, but it seems more suitable for helping people find common conversation points and keeping them informed.
- The content seems overly sensationalized and lacks value.
- They prefer watching long-form news videos on YouTube and haven't used another news app in over a year.
- While the app is okay, I stopped using it because of the excessive notifications.
- Users' preferences have shifted towards long-form content.
- The app is decent, but the overwhelming notifications and clickbait content are annoying. It does the job, but there is one major issue: the relevancy filter at the bottom left needs improvement. There are too many choices, new categories keep appearing, and despite setting my preferences in the relevancy section, we still see news we don't want to see.
- The app is good, but the excessive notifications and irrelevant content, such as Bollywood news in the business section, are frustrating.
- Some say they like the format but don't like the overwhelmingly negative news.
β
Retention Campaigns
Negative Actions to Look Out for π¨
All Users
- Fall/Stall in Number of Shorts read: A decline/flatlining
- Disabling Push Notifications: fall in interaction with the app
- Declining shares of InShorts stories via SM
- Negative ratings on the Play Store
- Uninstalling the app
- Negative feedback of the app on SM
- Mismatch of news shared and user's preference
- App glitches: long buffers, the app hangs
Resurrection Campaigns β°οΈ
Campaign #1 - Stay updated with important news for you!
Voluntary Churn 1 | Too many push notifications |
|---|---|
Segment | Users who have installed the app (Core to Power) |
Goal | Classify what is breaking news and ask the users to categorize |
Offer feature |
as breaking news to them.
notifications.
throughout the day. β |
Pitch/Content | Stay updated with the news that's important to you! β |
Frequency | As soon as the user visits the app after a week |
Channels | In-app pop-up screen + In-app notifications |
Success metrics | Active users taking charge of their news preferences and selecting the push notifications patterns. Less churn because of excessive push notifications |
Campaign #2 - CoffeeShort Explainer at 20 per story
β
Voluntary Churn 1 | For users who now like videos and long-form content |
|---|---|
Segment | Attracting users who are churned because they have changed news consumption preferences |
Goal |
can consume everything in bite-sized 60 words, shorts But this premium will give users access to deep dives stories from genres that are researched and shared with the users as a written story of about 3000 + video animation |
Offer feature | CoffeeShorts long-form weekly articles, a gist of this will be shared via email, Promoted to download the app and read it on the interface β |
Pitch/Content | Introducing CoffeeShorts InShorts Premiumβyour gateway to comprehensive, well-researched stories. Explore in-depth articles spanning over 3000 words, enriched with captivating video animations. Perfect for those moments when you want more than just a quick update. What You Get with InShorts Premium:
Upgrade now and transform your news experience! β |
Frequency | Weekly stories |
Channels | In-app pop-up screen + In-app notifications + Email |
Success metrics | This caters to users who enjoy deep diving, more potential for shares + More revenue + Stickiness to InShorts for all types of news |
Campaign #3 - InShorts YouTube channel
β
Voluntary Churn 1 | Like watching videos over reading |
|---|---|
Segment | βAttracting users who are churned because they have changed news consumption preferences |
Goal |
can consume everything in bite-sized 60 words, shorts But this will give users access to deep dives stories from genres that are researched and shared with the users of a YouTube video |
Offer feature | Every day, short 10-min videos explaining the news highlight of the day This is non-sensational, unbiased, and has some key takeaways at the end of each YouTube video, with a prompt asking viewers to experience improved news experience and get news on the go in 60 words via the InShorts app β |
Pitch/Content | Did you miss out on the latest updates? Weβve got something new just for you! Introducing InShorts Daily YouTube Highlights: We bring you a concise 10-minute video daily explaining the top news highlight. Our videos are non-sensational, unbiased, and end with key takeaways to keep you well-informed. But thatβs not all! get news on the go in just 60 words with the InShorts app. β |
Frequency | Every day, YouTube Videos |
Channels | In-app pop-up screen + In-app notifications + Email + YouTube Subscribers |
Success metrics | Increase in YouTube InShorts subscribers, Likes, and views for videos, Shares, Increased downloads of the InShorts App |
β
Campaign #4 - Positive News InShorts Live: Positive News Spins - Webinars, Discussions, Debates via InstaLive
β
Voluntary Churn 1 | Reducing the overload of negative news |
|---|---|
Segment | βAttracting users who are churned because they have changed news consumption preferences |
Goal |
that usually gets buried behind the sensationalism
Instagram page and invite accomplished guests from across domains to discuss and give their positive takes on the news that's surrounding |
Offer feature | Weekly Positive News InShorts Live β |
Pitch/Content | Every day, the news can feel overwhelming, filled with negativity and sensationalism. But at InShorts, we believe in highlighting the progress and positive stories that often get buried. Introducing Positive News InShorts Live: Each day, we bring you the most uplifting news stories, shining a light on the progress happening around us. And thatβs not all! Join us once a week on Instagram Live, where the InShorts team, along with accomplished guests from various fields, will discuss the weekβs positive news and share their inspiring perspectives. β β |
Frequency | Every day, weekly Instagram lives (Preferably mid-week) |
Channels | In-app pop-up screen + In-app notifications + Email + SMS |
Success metrics | Increase in Instagram follower's Likes and views for videos, Shares, Increased downloads of the Inshorts App |
β
βCampaign #5 - InShorts audio
β
Voluntary Churn 1 | Increasing touch points with the app |
|---|---|
Segment | Attracting users who are churned because they have changed news consumption preferences |
Goal | Create audio of the news files and give users an option to listen or read |
Offer feature | β Introduce audio for each story with auto shuffles so people can listen to their news on the go. |
Pitch/Content | β "π§ On the move? Stay updated with InShorts Audio! Listen to the latest news stories with our new auto-shuffle feature. Try it now! #InShortsAudio #NewsOnTheGo" Give feedback on how we can improve. It's most valuable. β |
Frequency | Audio for every story |
Channels | In-app pop-up screen + In-app notifications + Email + SMS for feature launch |
Success metrics | Create a curiosity among users with them reinstalling the app for Audio |
β
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